Low Moisture Landscaping for Your Home

21 March 2015

How To Create The Perfect Garden Shed

If you're an avid gardener, having your tools handy and potting supplies organized puts you one step closer to growing success. Don't let your garden shed become a wasteland of haphazardly thrown stuff. Here's how you can create the perfect shed so you know exactly where everything is, and you can start and end your gardening days with pleasure.

Basic Organization

The first thing you need to do is get your tools and equipment organized. Stainless steel shelving is ideal for the garden shed, as it can be easily hosed down and kept clean. The same qualities that make it safer for commercial kitchen use make stainless shelving perfect for preventing the spread of plant disease. Use a mix of solid and mesh shelving for different sized items.

Along one wall or the back of the door, hang a full-length perforated steel pegboard with hooks or clamps for large garden tools, like rakes, spades, sod lifters, and the like. Keep any materials needed to clean your tools nearby.

Work Area

Next to your shelving, create a work station where you can transplant seedlings, re-pot plants, and perform other small tasks. For a reasonable price you can have a metal fabricator add a sheet of stainless steel to the top of any bench or cupboard to create another easy-clean work surface. Add a steel pegboard above for small tools, such as trowels.

Next to your workbench, store stainless steel bins of potting soil and compost. A rubber mat on the floor will help keep your feet and legs from getting tired if you're standing for a long while.

Seed Starter Corner

Most serious gardeners start their seeds from scratch indoors before the growing season. If you are in the right climate or have a heated shed, having a seed starting corner in your shed is preferable to having your kitchen taken over by seed trays every spring.

The most important element of growing seeds is light. If you don't have electricity in your shed, plan a way to run a heavy-duty outdoor extension cord to the shed to provide power. Clip your lights to a frame that can be moved up at small intervals as the seedlings grow. If your mesh steel shelving is adjustable, you can use this as the framework for your lights.

Nice Extras

Ideally, every garden shed would have a sink, and if you can accommodate running water next to your work bench, definitely do so. You can even create an ersatz sink with a hose spigot and tub arrangement.

If you have room at the entrance to your shed, place a rack for your rubber boots and garden clogs, along with a boot scraper to keep the bottoms from caking with mud.

A radio on the workbench is a nice addition, as is a little lamp for dreary days. Also, a calendar with your seasonal growing plan will keep you on target for each new crop or batch of flowers.

Garden sheds can range from tiny closets that fold up on themselves to elaborate small houses that look like fairy cottages. The key is to make the most with what you have and add a touch of personality. Then you'll have an inviting space that keeps everything in easy reach and makes you excited about each new day with your plants.

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About Me

Water is a natural resource that we cannot afford to take for granted. One way we can all participate in conserving water is by cutting back on the amount of water we give our lawns and plants. A lush, green lawn may be a status symbol but it is also wasteful. I once had a green lawn that needed watering almost every day, but I have replaced it with a landscape that is just as beautiful and needs almost no watering at all. Learn the tricks of creating an environment where water is used conservatively if at all. You will discover that you can feel great about having a beautiful yard without feeling guilty about wasting water.